You can buy alcohol in Alabama Monday through Saturday during the hours your retailer is licensed to sell, with beer and wine available at grocery and convenience stores from early morning until 2:00 AM, distilled spirits available only at state-run ABC stores during their posted weekday and Saturday hours, and Sunday sales permitted only where your city or county has specifically authorized them. ABC stores are closed every Sunday statewide, and roughly a third of Alabama’s counties are dry, meaning no alcohol sales at all within their borders.
Monday Through Saturday Hours
Alabama’s state-run Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) stores sell distilled spirits for home consumption Monday through Saturday. Hours vary by location, and the ABC Board posts them for each store.1Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Stores
Licensed private retailers that sell beer and table wine, including grocery stores, convenience stores, and package stores, keep longer hours. Most open earlier in the morning and can sell until 2:00 AM. Bars and restaurants with on-premise licenses follow the same 2:00 AM last call. Opening times can differ by municipality, so if you need an early-morning purchase, check with the retailer or city hall first.
Sunday Sales
Sunday is where the rules get complicated. ABC stores are closed every Sunday statewide, so distilled spirits are not available anywhere in the state that day. For beer, wine, and drinks served on premise, availability depends on your local government.
State law generally prohibits alcohol sales after 2:00 AM on Sunday morning. Any sales later that day require separate local authorization. Since 2019, a law commonly called the Brunch Bill (Act 2019-100) lets city councils and county commissions in wet areas authorize Sunday sales by ordinance, resolution, or local referendum, without first going through the state legislature.2Alabama Retail Association. Sunday Sales, Draft Beer and Other Alcohol Bills
Where Sunday sales are authorized, the starting time varies. Birmingham, Mobile, Huntsville, and Auburn allow sales starting at 10:00 AM. Other cities begin at noon or 1:00 PM. A handful of places restrict Sunday sales to on-premise consumption only, meaning you can order a drink at a restaurant but cannot buy a six-pack to take home. The answer can change at a city limit, so call ahead when in doubt.
What You Can Buy and Where
Hours only matter once you’re at the right store. Alabama splits alcoholic beverages into categories that flow through different retail channels.
Grocery stores and convenience stores holding a retail beer or wine license can sell beer up to 13.9% alcohol by volume and table wine up to 24% ABV (excluding certain herb-flavored wines above 16.5%). That covers most craft beers, IPAs, seltzers, and standard wines.3Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 28 – 3-1 Definitions
Distilled spirits such as whiskey, vodka, rum, and gin must come from a state-run ABC store or a licensed package store. You will not find a bottle of bourbon at your local Publix. Products containing distilled spirits above 14.9% ABV that fall outside the table wine definition also move through ABC wholesale channels.4Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Alabama Administrative Code Chapter 20-X-6 – Operation of Licensed Premises
Dry Counties and Wet Cities
Alabama uses a local option system. Voters in each county decide whether alcohol can be sold there. A county that approved sales is wet. A county that rejected sales is dry, and the sale of any alcoholic beverage within that county is prohibited regardless of what hour you walk in.5Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 28-2-1 – Procedure for Elections to Determine Classification of Counties as Wet or Dry Counties
According to recent ABC Board data, 42 of Alabama’s 67 counties are wet. The other 25 are dry but contain at least one wet city within their borders where voters independently approved alcohol sales.6Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Wet Cities You may find a town in a dry county where you can buy beer and wine, but step outside the city limits and sales are off again.
Possessing alcohol for personal use in a dry county remains legal. The prohibition applies to sale and distribution, not to what you carry in your vehicle or keep at home.
Holiday Closures
State-run ABC stores close on certain holidays, which blocks spirits purchases on those days. The ABC Board publishes its holiday schedule, which historically includes Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Individual stores may observe additional closures, so checking the ABC Board’s site before a holiday trip is worth the minute it takes.1Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Stores
Private beer and wine retailers are not subject to those mandatory closures. A grocery store open on Thanksgiving can generally sell beer and wine during its normal licensed hours. Some local governments impose their own holiday restrictions by ordinance, so in an unfamiliar area, call the store.
Alcohol Delivery
Licensed operators can deliver alcohol to your door under Alabama’s delivery service license. The rules are strict.
Every delivery must go to someone at least 21, requires an adult signature and ID check at the door, and must be for personal use only. The order has to arrive the same calendar day it leaves the retail store, and the delivery cannot travel more than 75 miles from the store where the alcohol was purchased.7Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 28-3A-13.1 – Delivery Service License
Daily quantity limits apply per customer:
- Beer: up to the equivalent of 120 twelve-ounce containers, with draft beer capped at 288 ounces
- Wine: up to 9,000 milliliters, roughly 12 standard bottles
- Spirits from an off-premise retailer: up to 9,000 milliliters
- Spirits from a restaurant: up to 375 milliliters, about half a standard bottle
Two hard limits apply. Drivers cannot bring alcohol to any residence hall on a college campus, and they cannot deliver into a dry county or dry municipality, even if they are only passing through. A delivery can drive through a dry county, but it cannot drop off an order there.7Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 28-3A-13.1 – Delivery Service License